Envato Extends Bounty Program To VirtueMart Templates

Envato, the parent company of ThemeForest.net, recently placed a $5,000 cash bounty on VirtueMart templates, which have become part of the “Most Wanted” program as of late. From now until March 7th, developers have an opportunity to submit VirtueMart themes to the marketplace in hopes of receiving approval and their share of the $5,000 bounty, which will be divvied out in $500 installments to each of the first ten approved submissions. There is a maximum allowance of two approved themes (or $1,000) per developer in this contest.

Those who ultimately are selected as winners in the contest will also receive the highly coveted Most Wanted forum badge. Payments will be made via PayPal or Moneybookers/Skrill around the beginning of April 2013 (after the winners have been selected and confirmed).

Contest Rules And Requirements

There are a number of terms and conditions that must be met in order for those participating to be entered as valid participants. For one, multiple entries that aspire for consideration must all be different from one another, as similar themes by the same author will be rejected. Entrants must also leave their template up on the ThemeForest marketplace for a minimum of 2 years, with approved winners obligated to fill out the entry form agreement in order to be eligible to receive prize payouts.

Completed templates should be placed in the CMS Themes > Joomla category with VirtueMart 2.0.14 receiving a check-mark in the “compatible with” box. Most themes within this category that have been submitted recently are being priced at $40 or $45. Our readers can click on the following link to read the Full Terms & Conditions.

More About VirtueMart

VirtueMart is defined by its official website as “an Open Source E-Commerce solution to be used together with a Content Management System (CMS) called Joomla!. Joomla! and VirtueMart are written in PHP and can be used in typical PHP/MySQL environments.” The shopping cart software is ideal for those wishing to set up an online retail website that allows customers to purchase items without unnecessary hassle and inconveniences.

Some of the basic features that come with VirtueMart include flexible tax models, the ability for registered shoppers to manage their accounts, shipping address management, order history outline, customizable order confirmation emails, multiple currencies and several languages. There are dual Demo versions that can be experimented with before deciding whether or not to implement the cart on your website; giving potential users a clean front-end and back-end experience glimpse ahead of time.

Developer Participation

The Envato Most Wanted series has been instrumental in encouraging independent talent and corporate programmers to lend a hand in filling short and medium-term demand segments by offering bonus prize money as an incentive. The result has been a slew of highly specific products that have allowed marketplaces like ThemeForest to keep up with (and even stay ahead of) the times.

The official ThemeForest VirtueMart template bounty thread contains more information on how to register your theme and submit it for consideration. The contest will end on March 7th, 2013, but all 10 prize slots may be approved well before then; depending on how quickly developers submit material.

The VirtueMart bounty program began one week ago on December 18th, so there are already several developers working on relevant projects in order to fill the demand. We will continue to keep you updated on any breaking news surrounding the VirtueMart contest as it happens.